Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short

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Friday, 22 September, 2006

Something strange is happening in Austin, Texas.

A mysterious Austin-based company with the all but Google-proof name
EEStor has
developed some kind of “electrical energy storage unit” not unlike a
battery only more so. They are a startup with about CDN$5 million.
Exactly why Canadians are investing in this technology, but the
Americans are not remains a mystery.

EEStor recently signed a deal with Toronto-based Feel Good Cars, which has been
operating for a few years attempting to develop NEVs, and finally
started to import vehicles from China. It is not clear whether they are
actually in a position to sell vehicles. However, they merged with a
capital holding company in January. The combined company assumed the
Feel Good Cars name.

Autoblog Green, Treehugger, and a few other blogs mirroring those have
been dropping hints that something is coming from these people.
From Treehugger:

Among EEStor’s claims is that its
“electrical energy
storage unit” could pack nearly 10 times the energy punch of a
lead-acid battery of similar weight and, under mass production, would
cost half as much.

It also says its technology more than doubles the energy density of
lithium-ion batteries in most portable computer and mobile gadgets
today, but could be produced at one-eighth the cost.

If that’s not impressive enough, EEStor says its energy storage
technology is “not explosive, corrosive, or hazardous” like lead-acid
and most lithium-ion systems, and will outlast the life of any
commercial product it powers. It can also absorb energy quickly,
meaning a small electric car containing a 17-kilowatt-hour system could
be fully charged in four to six minutes versus hours for other battery
technologies, the company claims.

or in other words, they may have crossed the gap making an electric car
truly practical for daily use.

The question becomes, not why are they not partnering with a major
automotive concern after Ford’s adventure with trying to buy, promote
and kill Think Nordic and the electric
Ranger, and GM’s overly documented adventure with the peculiar Impact,
but why are they partnering with a company attempting to make the best
of the situation keeping electric-powered cars small and impractical?

Then again, FGC could be a seed from which the next auto company grows?
and what about Tesla? or the peculiar and
currently GM V6 powered Standard
Taxi?